LEGENDS - Failed Cards & Mechanics

Sometimes Pokémon tries some new things that just don't quite pan out, and in todays episode of failed mechanics we'll be looking at the legends mechanic, a unique mechanic that split 1 card over different parts.
Script by R
Edited by Kevin
#pokemon #pokemontcg

[@briansilva3765]

They may have failed as a mechanic, they certainly won in the art category, Lugia especially is beautiful.

[@eightcoins4401]

The artstyle from HGSS was amazing in general

[@peterthanos2209]

Enter’s face in suicune and Entei looks INCREDIBLY dumb tho

[@calobbes]

I always liked the weird stuff the TCG tried. Delta species will always have a place in my heart.

[@kstanni87]

Technically Terastal is close to bringing it back. But they are not true Delta Species since Charizard was given a Dark type.

[@munchrai6396]

The failure of mechanics like Legends feels a lot more disappointing in Pokemon because, while they will often reprint different cards for any Pokemon, they will almost never revisit an old gimmick. This is easily my biggest gripe with Set rotation because it either puts a timer on the strategy to get it right before you disappear or they attempt something Like the Lost Zone multiple times, but each of those attempts are isolated from one another making for minimal overall growth

[@ryanm9257]

they have alway reused old gimmicks some time with fresh paint, even look at lv x cards the gimmick was revamp into breaks years later nm owned pokemon or legends and v unions

[@TrueLooneyman]

They did try this kind of gimmick again with pokemon V-union cards, which were even worse and had so few pokemon be V-union I don't think they were ever used

[@munchrai6396]

@@TrueLooneyman The funny part is that V-Unions do see play on rare occasion due to the fact that they work well with discard turbo decks and Battle compressor. The ability to play them from the discard pile is legit a really cool idea and far more manageable than getting them in your hand even if it is double the material

[@munchrai6396]

@@ryanm9257 My problem is not them visiting a gimmick and never coming back to it. My problem is that even if these gimmicks are revisited, You can't take the strengths from the previous attempt to further improve the next iteration.

[@colmecolwag]

​@@TrueLooneymanMewtwo V Union did get some competitive success tbf

[@P4brotagonist]

I was always sad that these never took off. They just weren't worth it. The game had to accelerate to a point where you can consistently get them off like you can with V Unions now

[@piens51]

In HG&SS block they had some viable decks but the era being so short and then gen 5 beinh all about big basics basicly ensured they did not get much of a chance. Maybe if HG & SS era was longer they would have hit their groove but yeah.

[@mr.valeyard8810]

Some of the best artwork in the game imo

[@DaneeBound]

In the video it’s not really touched on what made Pokémon LEGEND fall out of the game so quickly. To put it simply: The culprit was general power-creep. Starting with Next Destinies, Pokémon EX would enter the picture (not to be confused with Pokémon ex), which just like Pokémon LEGENDs were big Pokés with huge attacks and more HP, but with one key difference: They were not split into multiple cards and were treated as Basic Pokémon, still, meaning they’re much easier to get onto the board and cards that interacted with Basics (like Eviolite, and Skyarrow Bridge) worked on them, too. Consider Mewtwo-EX, a Psychic type with 170 HP and a double-colourless attack that does 20 damage for each energy attached to both itself AND the target. All the LEGENDs need at least three energy to do their job, and Mewtwo-EX can kill all of them back with ease.

[@sintheemptyone8108]

Gen 5-6 happens to be my least favorite generation of Pokemon TCG because of Pokemon-EX being Basics. Broken as all hell.

[@DaneeBound]

​@@sintheemptyone8108 The most broken shit from that era was broken entirely on its own merits, and not because it was stapled onto a big basic. In fact, the most busted Pokémon EX-Set Up Shaymin EX-was anything but big by EX standards. Also: Even if the capital EXes worked more like the lowercase exes of old (and of today), Mewtwo-EX would still have been a basic, so it would still have power-crept the three somewhat viable LEGENDs out of the format.

[@munchrai6396]

@@sintheemptyone8108 It's still a pain in the butt to circumvent standard evolution so thoroughly. Tends to artificially speed up the game when every pokemon can be treated as legendary. So glad they stopped doing this after 2 and a half generations of evolution Pokemon being turned into basics.

[@piens51]

​@@munchrai6396they have brought it back a lot this gen with some stage 2 decks being playable in meta and rougues even if their not exactly obstruction free. Lets hope they do not pull another team up mid gen.

[@speedroidterrortop5391]

I thought these were the coolest cards when I was younger. (Man, I loved the Heartgold/Soulsilver era of cards.) I actually spent a bunch of in game currency in the old Pokémon online card game on Heartgold/Soulsilver packs to pull LEGEND cards to build gimmick decks. (Instead of, you know, good decks.) Rest in pizza all those HGSS cards I pulled.

[@gabrielcastillo9745]

These cards are the perfect example that it's always better to have cheap attacks with simple effects rather than expensive attacks with powerful effects. Unless of course there is some broken energy acceleration mechanic available.

[@DataDrain02]

You know, though.... Looking at these cards through a collector's lens. These were super cool. I wish I was collecting cards from this era.... For some reason, I originally stopped before the US release of the original G/S sets. Then out of the blue, in 2017, I started getting them again in the Sun/Moon era. But, yeah. Those pictures really gave off that "legendary" vibe... especially the Ho-Oh and Lugia ones.

[@dannybeane2069]

Ya know with the whole, "take a number of price cards equal to the number of pokemon on this card" could have had an incredible exploit. Place Pokémon stickers on the opponent's legend card till they have 6 in the art work!

[@therandomizer925]

8:04 resource management has always been an important skill, thats like the entire idea of the TCG

[@snakesmartyt4433]

These feels like less problematic V Union cards

[@user-eg4qf8ew6n]

I just find out these legend cards are all drawn by Shinji Higuchi, the co-creator of Evangeleon

[@gatorkid509]

While the concept of using 2 specific cards to battle isn't the best concept, the art is definitely amazing, I had the Rayquaza and Deoxys Legends cards and remember really wanting to find the other half in order to complete the artwork. They ended up being my only Duel Legends Cards I ever got and then I eventually lost them because I was a dumb child who didn't keep my holos and rare cards in a binder like a normal TCG collector. If I ever decided to hunt for any Legends cards via packs, I would definitely want the Darkrai and Cresselia cards because, to this day, it has one of the best card artwork of the TCG, that Darkrai looks so spooky and menacing.

[@sideways5153]

I feel like, given the right support (and given that the cards were worth playing to begin with), it would’ve been viable to play 1 copy of one half and 3 of the other half, searching for the single piece with specific support and then using more normal draw power to pull one of the three copies of the other half. This would only really work as a piece of a late-game strategy, and would preclude the Legends card from being a deck’s sole win condition, but with the right moves or poke-powers it might have been workable. Shame the cards were never that strong or supported

[@XYGamingRemedyG]

"it was never favourable in it's favour"

[@exeledusprince9165]

Ho-Oh Legend is one of the most beautiful cards ever.

[@williamdrum9899]

1:48 Entei looks like he was stung by a bee 😂

[@KingRui_yo]

I pulled the top half of the kyogre and groudon card and the the way the art was applied to the foil card made it so that after a few minutes it just peeled right off which was awesome

[@aliastheabnormal]

So it's a lesser Exodia knock-off.

[@VenomBurst]

I love seeing videos about old archetypes. I played recently in a tournament for the luxury ball format and a guy won using a Entei/Raikou Blaziken deck. Was wacky how fast it was. I used a Lugia legend deck. Tried to counter those donphan/flygon decks. Got third place. Keep up the amazing videos 😊

[@prettydankmemes8097]

Excellent video! Thanks for making this informative deep dive!

[@hypnosprojecthq3519]

I top cut St. Louis Regionals at 3rd seed the fall after The Truth took 2nd at Worlds when that deck was running rampant, and I teched a 1-1 Darkrai/Cresselia LEGEND into ReshiPhlosion along with a couple Psychic energy and a Jirachi. With that combo, what was normally a terrible matchup turned into a very positive matchup. You could use Jirachi to devolve the Vileplume and/or Reuniclus to break the lock, OR you could move all the Bench damage around that they've accumulated with Darkrai/Cresselia and KO the Reuniclus and/or Vileplume. Sadly I ran into a low-seed Mew Box in Top 32 which was by far my worst possible matchup.

[@piens51]

Eh I would argue that they didn't even give the mehanic fair shot.

[@benjamingrove47]

Technically, Bronzong and Indigo Plateau from HGSS Triumphant also interact with LEGENDs, but it ain't much lol

[@blazeking95]

Great video 👍

[@fifnaf7290]

you forgot to mention you can put DCE onto Ho-oh Legend so you only needed 2 attachments on it to fire off

[@Sparkz_72alt]

I don't think that's how it works. The text states that it provides A fire energy, so dce would make it a single fire energy, if I'm correct

[@fifnaf7290]

@@Sparkz_72alt no, if you read it carefully, the text states "all energy" are turned into fire and not "all energy cards"

[@Sparkz_72alt]

@@fifnaf7290 oh u right u right mb

[@sideways5153]

Man, Kyogre & Groudon sounds so cool. Milling two or three energies from your own deck and annihilating some beefy thing worth three prizes sounds awesome. Milling two or three energy from your opponent and clearing their bench also sounds amazing. That’s just the gambling addict deep inside me looking for a jackpot, though. If I understand correctly, most decks only run like 20 energies and milling more than 2 of them at a time would be crazy odds. Milling 1 wouldn’t even be consistent enough to make the move viable IF a single energy was all you needed to hit.

[@Certified_Whale_Enjoyer]

Visually tho, these cards were absolutely sick, I'm thinking of buying both pieces of Rayquaza & Deoxys

[@LucasMartins-lm1ey]

great video :)

[@windindi2834]

I love LEGEND Pokemon so much. Kyogre and Groudon will always be my favorite!

[@samdunn5846]

I remember really wanting these

[@pokemaniacdavid]

I’ve been super into the tcg for about a year now(not counting gen 1 when I was a boy) and this is the first I’ve heard of these cards. I want them alllll 🤩

[@premejon8300]

is it really a failed mechanic when Ross Cawthon played one in his worlds list. As well as the other finalist who played Rayquaza Deoxys in his deck? Playing these 2 cards were incredibly rewarding towards the end of their set legality.

[@calich33sehead]

I remember Legend cards. I was playing casually with my friends and then-girlfriend at the time those cards were in rotation.

[@STULF20X6]

I'm just happy Darkrai got a spot in there. He pretty cool

[@WhimsicottTCG]

"Resource management wasn't an important skill" is the biggest cap I have ever heard

[@PinClockFuntime]

I like the idea of arrows in these vids but they feel unneeded, I can read the cards.

[@petrie911]

Might have thought Lugia LEGEND would have seen play after rotation as a single-prize Pokemon that can one-shot a Pokemon-EX. I guess three energy types was just too much?

[@rb-lw9wi]

very nice video

[@aerosma5021]

But they look stunning, I'd love to collect them

[@twobitwackjob]

Loved Espeon and Umbreon prime. Even went to an undaunted pre-release and got them both!

[@carefulman3673]

Those cards look like a headache lol

[@michele_]

1:05 *first 2 from undaunted, second 2 from Triumphant

[@RestoSexual]

I still have a deck from standard in this era sleeved up. I really enjoyed that meta. Not legends though 😂😂

[@julianadams3710]

If they meant for them to be collectables they succeeded, all of them look great.

[@Darksilver740]

I'm confused on what Dialga and Palkia Legends could do. Take the top 2 cards of your opponents deck and ADD them to their prize cards?? Am I reading that correctly?

[@akasual7884]

my fav Pokemon is BlueEyesGaruruchu

[@CesaroniNCheese]

I noticed that Deoxys and Rayquaza legend are weak to both of their own types. If two Deoxys Rayquaza legends were to go against each other, would they take x4 damage from each other's attacks?

[@TheVictor126]

yes, they do

[@TheRDprod]

As a yu gi oh player, I have no idea what’s happening

[@marcoasturias8520]

Basically, rituals and with no way to look for material

[@Jackandyourmother]

I have the top of entei and rakoui and I have no idea how I got it

[@lollolloely]

I have never seen this before...

[@speedroidterrortop5391]

I was 11ish when these cards were introduced, and while they were cool to look at, they weren't too popular on the playground because each card was only half an image. No one had a complete LEGEND card cause we were snot nosed middle schoolers buying like 3 packs of cards a month. It was much easier to find, pull, and trade SP cards. And there was hype on the playground to own Gym Leader and Team Galactic Pokemon, not the butt of Groudon or something. (Although, to this day I still have half a Lugia LEGEND card I traded from someone. So that's pretty cool.)

[@piens51]

​​@@speedroidterrortop5391idnt help that there werent many HG and SS sets either to let the mehanic find its groove. The sets where at the very end of gen 4 and as we know new gen means new gimick so they whede droped with only few cards printed. If Vunion far more clunky mehanic had some playability in meta (albet 1 card) I am sure Legend was not hopeless mehanic.

[@marklehman5272]

Is there a card game this guy doesn't cover?

[@goblindotbest]

Really wanted v union to go as hard as these

[@marcoasturias8520]

Looking back at the art on these and comparing them to what we have today... Yeah, they're kinda ugly and some, almost disgusting. Dunno, the way the Pokémon look warped puts me off.

[@user-ry1fp6ov2i]

How did he say Palkia?

[@user-ry1fp6ov2i]

1:16

[@boomman4000]

God that suicune entei card is ugly

[@guillermo4730]

The art looks cool but man... the text

[@kstanni87]

Pokemon V is a much better version of Legends and old EX cards